Adoption of The Schedule and Requests for Additional Copies
Before any records listed on the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records may be disposed of and even if the local government previously adopted Schedules CO-2, MU-1, MI-1, and ED-1,the governing body must formally adopt the Schedule by passing a resolution. A model resolution is included at the end of the Introduction to this Schedule. It is not necessary to send a copy of the passed resolution to the State Archives. Upon adoption, this Schedule supersedes Schedules CO-2, MU-1, MI-1, and ED-1.
This Schedule may be used by the local government until the governing body rescinds its authorizing resolution, or the Schedule is superseded or replaced by the State Archives.
Additional paper or electronic copies of this Schedule can be obtained by calling the State Archives at (518) 474-6926 or emailing at recmgmt@nysed.gov. The Schedule is also available on the State Archives' website at http://www.archives.nysed.gov.
Arrangement of Items on the Schedule
In general, items on the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records are arranged as they were in the previous schedules, with a few significant exceptions:
- General Administration section: This new section combines the former General and Miscellaneous sections. In addition, it includes items that were duplicated in other sections including, but not limited to, the County Clerk and School District and BOCES sections.
- Executive section: This new section combines the former Supervisor, Mayor, Manager, and/or Administrator section in the Schedule MU-1; County Executive, Manager, and/or Administrator section in the Schedule CO-2; and the Executive, Manager, and/or Administrator section in the Schedule MI-1. In addition, the school superintendent’s office files item, previously found in the Schedule ED-1’s Administration section was folded into this new Executive section.
- School District and BOCES section: This new section retains the unique subsections of the Schedule ED-1, including Administration, Food Management and Child Nutrition, Gifted and Talented Programs, Health, Instruction, Magnet Schools, Nursing Education, School Safety, Special Education, Student Records, Supplemental Education Services, Teacher Resource and Computer Training Center, Transportation: School Bus Routing and Scheduling, and Transportation: Other School Transportation Records.
New or Revised Items
Items on this Schedule preceded by a diamond symbol (♦) are either new to the 2020 edition, or have been substantively changed from the previous edition. Those items with two diamond symbols (♦♦) reflect revisions to this edition. They may have longer or shorter retention periods, additional parts, or additional or revised explanatory notes. Please note these changes carefully on your office schedules and/or inventory or records control forms because only the current items as contained in this edition of the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records are legally applicable.
Unique Item Numbering System
Items are assigned a unique identifying number. That number, which appears in bold will not change as items are revised or relocated in new editions of the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records. Former unique numbers from previous schedules (Records Retention and Disposition Schedules CO-2, MU-1, MI-1, and ED-1) are noted to the right of the new unique number.
Interpreting Schedule Items
Many of the schedule items are broad and describe the purpose or function of records rather than identifying individual documents and forms. Local officials should match the records in their offices with the generalized descriptions on the Schedule to determine appropriate retention periods. Records whose content and function are substantially the same as an item described in the Schedule should be considered to be covered by that item. Local officials should check with the State Archives when they are uncertain regarding coverage of a function. In situations where local officials have combined related types of records, covered by different items in this Schedule, into a single file series, it may be impractical to separately apply the retention periods of the various applicable Schedule items to the individual records in the file. In such situations, officials may find it more convenient to dispose of the entire set of records by using the applicable retention item with the longest retention period.
Retention periods on this Schedule apply to one "official" copy designated by the local government unless otherwise stated. No matter what the medium, local officials must ensure that the information will be retained for the specified retention period.
The retention periods listed on this Schedule pertain to the information contained in records, regardless of physical form or characteristic (paper, microfilm, computer disk or tape, or other medium). Duplicate copies of records, including copies maintained on different media (paper, electronic, etc.), may be disposed of in accordance with item no. 58 of the General Administration section of this Schedule.
